


Little Protogenoi's Tales

by Dock872210



Series: Ophisverse [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 04:22:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18045407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dock872210/pseuds/Dock872210
Summary: The new protogenos of Space and Time, Ophis, has survived the Titan War. Now it's time for the young primordial to take her first steps in finding her place in the realm of the gods. [Post Titan War snippet collection set in the world of The Search for Home] [X-posted on FFN]





	1. A visit with hope

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.**

**Little Protogenoi's Tales**

**Chapter 1: A visit with hope**

**Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply**

* * *

In a burst of flame, a young girl of eight or nine with mousy brown hair, warm cozy red eyes and dressed in a simple brown dress appeared alongside a girl a year or two younger with hip-length dark hair, grey eyes who was wearing an elaborate black and white gothic lolita dress. They had materialized in a room decorated in the style of a Victorian drawing room.

"Hestia, Ophis, welcome to my home!" A ten year old elfin girl with blonde hair in a bob cut and wearing a pinafore dress greeted the new arrivals.

"Greetings, Elpis." Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, returned cheerfully. "Say hello, little sister."

"Hello." Ophis, the young protogenoi of Time and Space, replied more shyly as she hid a little behind her older sister.

"Come, take a seat. I've set out the tea and snacks already." Elpis, the spirit of hope, said as she led her two guests over to a table by a window that overlooked a tranquil lake - something that should be impossible inside the pithos of hope - where the aforementioned food and drink was waiting.

The window caught Ophis' eye however, and the brunette divinity cautiously walked over to take a closer look.

"That's caught your eye, eh? Little Ophis." Elpis asked amusedly.

Blushing prettily at having let her curiosity overcome her manners, Ophis offered her apologies. "Sorry, Elpis, it's just that this is such a great piece of spatial manipulation and-"

"That's your domain. So you were fascinated. Totally understandable." Elpis said reassuringly. Hestia too was smiling at her sister encouragingly.

"Come and have some tea, Ophis, we can have Elpis give us a tour later." Hestia suggested. "If that's alright with you, Elpis, of course."

"No problem, Hesita." The spirit said with a happy nod.

The trio of young looking female immortals sat down for some tea and soon they were enjoying a relaxing conversation as they did so.

"So you really prefer that your home is a pithos?" Ophis curiously. "Wouldn't it be more convenient if it was a more regular shape?"

"Like a box?" Hestia prodded as she chewed on a cookie.

"A box?" Elpis scoffed. "This isn't ghostbusters, I ain't sitting in a box for eternity!"

Ophis just blinked her eyes in confusion, not fully getting the reference. "I don't get it."

Elpis was aghast. "You don't know about the Ghostbusters!?"

Ophis wilted a little under the spirit's vehemence, and Hestia hastily intervened. "Relax Elpis, we can just explain it to her."

A quick explanation and a new round of tea and snacks later, Elpis was finishing off with, "-so of course I don't want to seem like this is my prison. I'm here by choice and I don't want anyone to ever forget that. Besides, I've already got all my interior decor exactly how I like it. There's no way I'm changing everything! And that's what I'll have to do if my pithos changed into a box."

Ophis nodded, still intimidated in the face of Elpis' attitude. That and the fact she was getting bored, forced her to quickly turn a set of puppy dog eyes on her sister.

"Hestia, can I go explore now?"

The two older immortals exchanged a look, before the goddess smiled and replied. "Of course, Ophis. Elpis?"

"Certainly." The spirit said as she conjured another instance of herself which offered her hand to the youngest of the three divinities. "Follow me, Ophis."

As she departed, Ophis could hear the original Elpis comment to Hestia that, "Your sister's a shy little thing isn't she?"

She was just out of earshot when Hestia replied, "She's still getting used to things. She'll get the hang of it soon and open up."

Ophis couldn't agree more. She may have fought and killed Titans, and even battled the Fates themselves. But meeting new people, especially new divinities, unsettled her. The last time she met someone like that, she had become a prisoner and tool of her father and his Titan relatives. It was only natural, despite all her power, for her to be wary.

Though as the tour progressed, Elpis showed herself to be a friendly host that offered interesting insights into her wondrous home. It was full of spatial distortions that made it much bigger inside than it was on the outside and which made even the oddest and smallest spaces fit for any purpose that the spirit could come up with. For the primordial of Time and Space studying these manipulations was absolutely fascinating. They gave her so many new ideas.

An hour later a happy Ophis returned to the drawing room to find her sister and the original Elpis waiting for her. As she crossed into the room, the Elpis she was following shot her a smile and vanished.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the tour, Ophis." The spirit observed sincerely.

"Thanks. You have a great house." Ophis offered honestly.

Elpis just smiled.

"I'm glad you like it, Ophis, but it's time to go." Hestia said as she offered her hand. Ophis pouted but nevertheless took her sister's hand.

The two daughters of Kronos were about to teleport away when Elpis offered some parting words.

"Ophis, before you go let me give you a piece of advice. As a wise mortal, Tony DeLiso, once said, 'Keep your best wishes, close to your heart and watch what happens.'"

Ophis nodded with a smile even as the flames of Hestia's powers engulfed her and took the two sisters away.

In her now empty drawing room, Elpis sighed. "It's a pity that she'll not remember that advice when she needs it most. Things will go so much more easily if she did."

* * *

**And here's the first short story in a collection that I aim to use to bridge The Search for Home with its possible sequel, The Rise of a New Power (tentative title). I hope this was a fun read and piqued your interest in both this story and in the sequel.**

**See you in future chapters of this story and in the sequel as well.**


	2. Walking the family dog

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.**

**Little Protogenoi's Tales**

**Chapter 2: Walking the family dog**

**Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply**

* * *

Nico shifted uneasily as he stood before his father's massive onyx throne. It was surrounded by a literal horde of undead. Ghouls, skeletons and spirits of the dead in their hundreds filled the throne room as they worked to help the Lord of the Underworld plough through his endless mountains of paperwork.

Well, that's what they should have been doing.

Instead, they were all standing in respectful stillness as their lord received an unscheduled visit. Which was the reason why Nico was so nervous, his father was not a jovial person at the best of times but when his work was interrupted his temper could best be described as apocalyptic.

And the only thing standing between Nico and that terrible temper was his seven year old adopted sister, Ophis. Though considering that she was the one who dragged him here and into this uncomfortable situation in the first place maybe that was not a good thing. At least the fact that she was a protogenoi and was thus more powerful than his father by far meant that she could keep him safe.

Right?

The son of Hades was pulled from his thoughts when Ophis made the request she'd skipped - literally - into the god's throne room to make.

"Big Brother Hades, can I take Cerberus for a walk?" The adorable little protogenoi asked cheerfully. She was so pleased with the idea of taking the family dog out for some fun that she had completely ignored how everyone shot her incredulous looks at that.

"No Ophis, you may not." The imposing albino god said with a frustrated sigh. "Did you really interrupt my work just to ask me this?"

Ignoring her godly brother's clear irritation, much to Nico's terror, Ophis continued to try to get her way.

"But Big Brother! Cerby hasn't had a walk since Heracles took him to the mortal plane ages ago! That can't be healthy for him."

"He is a powerful immortal. He's fine." The god said with a dismissive wave.

"Big Brother!" Ophis persisted, stomping her feet on the black marble floor. "He hasn't had a chance to have fun in millennia."

"I have it on good authority, my own, that he had a chance to play catch with a couple of demigods a few years ago." Hades refuted, even as his hands twitched towards the pen and document he had set aside when Ophis and Nico had showed up demanding an audience.

It was obvious to Nico that his patience was wearing thin, not that Ophis seemed to care. He really hoped she knew what she was doing.

"Annabeth and Percy told me about that." Ophis admitted. "And Cerby misses playing with Annabeth still. So does Annabeth. Can't we let them go play together for a while?"

Letting out another sigh, Hades massaged his temples in the way he so often did when fighting off a headache. This was dangerous territory. A Lord of the Underworld suffering under the effects of a headache was especially volatile.

"And who pray tell would guard the gates of the Underworld in his absence?" Hades asked pointedly.

"I'll spawn a suitable guardian to take over temporarily." Ophis countered with a sunny smile.

Hades leaned back in his throne for a moment and seemed to be considering the idea.

Ophis for her part upped the ante by shooting him the puppy dog eyes and asking in a sad voice, "I can't?"

The Lord of the Underworld panicked at the sight of his little sister's look and quickly shot a look over to his wife's throne but it was empty. It was not winter at the moment and his Queen was away with her mother.

_No surprise there_ , Nico noted with a snort, _Father always turns to Persephone for advice when he doesn't know how to handle Ophis._

Which was surprisingly often, the god had little to no experience with little girls. Much less little sisters more powerful than he was.

"Fine. Take him for a walk. Just stop giving me that look." Hades said almost pleadingly.

"Yay! Thank you, Big Brother Hades." Ophis cheered before she turned around, grabbed Nico by the arm and dragged him out of the throne room. "Come on Nico, let's go get Cerby! I'm so excited."

"Be back in time for dinner!" Hades shouted after them as they exited the room.

"Will do, Big Brother!" Ophis replied distractedly.

* * *

Standing before the gates of the Underworld, with a shrunken down Cerberus happily squirming in her arms, Ophis stood pondering what creature she should spawn to temporarily replace the three headed dog.

"You could just go with a snake." Nico suggested. "I mean that's what you are the matron goddess of, right?"

Ophis just shook her head. "But I want something special. Hmm… I've got it!"

With that declaration she freed one of her arms and pulled one of her waist length hairs off her head with a small wince. Letting it fall to the ground, it seemed to grow and change as gravity asserted its power. By the time it hit the ground, it had become an immense serpent as big as Cerberus had ever been. It sat coiled up on the spot where the Guardian of the Underworld usually loomed.

The snake's scales were a kaleidoscope of colors that spanned the entire visible spectrum and was punctuated by a repeated fleur de lis symbol that ran down its side. On its immense head was tied an even more massive pink bow.

Looking up at the creature, both Nico and even Cerberus could only gape in astonishment.

"Oh! Aren't you a pretty thing!?" Ophis cooed at the monster she'd just spawned.

The scales on its face turning red as if in a blush, the monster shyly replied. "Thank you, mummy."

Nico's mind ground to a stop at the idea of anything, much less a monster, calling his little sister "mummy". In a child's voice even.

From Ophis' own flabbergasted expression, it was a reaction she shared. To her credit though, she recovered quickly and smiled up at her creation.

"I think I'll call you Lily. You like that?" Ophis asked with a sincere smile on his face.

Nico just shook his head in exasperation. He knew those lily like fleur de lis symbols were eye-catching but to name such a fearsome looking monster after a flower because of them? That was just silly.

"Little Sister, we've gotta work on your choice of names."

"Hey!" Ophis protested. "I think it's a nice name."

"I like it. I think it's a very pretty name." The newly christened Lily declared.

"See!" Ophis declared triumphantly before turning back to her spawn. "It's a pretty name for a pretty girl."

Blushing again, Lily hid her head shyly in her coils.

Cerberus, apparently tired of being ignored for so long barked loudly.

"Oh! Sorry Cerby! I didn't mean to keep you waiting." Ophis apologized while scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "I just got distracted."

"Yeah, like you always do when you see something new and interesting." Nico teased.

Even as Ophis puffed up her cheeks in irritation, her new child came to her defense. Lily speared her massive tail into the ground right in front of Nico, causing him to take a step back in shock.

"No teasing mommy!" The monstrous snake ordered.

"Ok, ok. I'll stop." Nico agreed, his hands up in front of his chest in the universal sign of surrender.

Cerberus barked again. He was clearly getting impatient.

"Just a little bit more, Cerby. I promise." Ophis said patting the dog's three heads in succession, before turning to once more address her spawn. "Lily, Big Brother and I are taking Cerby for a walk. Look after the Gates of the Underworld until we get back, ok? We'll be back by the end of the day."

"Ok, mummy. You can count on Lily!" The snake declared proudly.

Cerberus barked.

"You're welcome, Cerby!"

Nico blinked and then sighed. "Am I the only one who doesn't understand what Cerberus is saying?"

"Yup." Ophis informed him as she conjured a portal to Camp Half-Blood and walked through it, Nico on her heels. "But no worries, it's normal for demigods to not understand monster or dog."

* * *

Several hours later, in the central courtyard of Camp Half-Blood a large fissure suddenly appeared in the earth. This panicked the dozen or so campers who saw it and they were just raising the alarm when a figure calmly and purposefully stalked out of the opening into the depths of the earth.

He was a tall and imposing man with deathly pale skin and intense black eyes. Dressed in flowing black robes with what looked like tortured souls sewn into the fabric he cut a terrifying figure as he walked towards the Big House.

As he passed, the campers quickly stopped whatever they were doing and fell to their knees to offer him homage as was his due. For they recognized him as the God of the Underworld, Hades.

The god was met on the porch of the Big House by his half-brother, the centaur and trainer of heroes, Chiron.

"Greetings, Lord Hades."

"Spare me the pleasantries, Chiron, where are they?" Hades demanded without preamble as he crossed his arms and loomed over his brother.

Unfazed, Chiron genially replied. "Ophis is sleeping in her room inside. Nico and Cerberus are resting there as well. Some of their friends are keeping them company." The centaur gestured into the house. "Lady Hestia is watching them."

Hades seemed to relax at the mention of his gentle older sister, but that did not stop him from pushing pass Chiron and entering the house.

Shaking his head at the lack of courtesy from the god, Chiron followed.

"Mr. D is away on Olympus for the moment. Summoned by Lord Zeus to discuss something of importance, though he did not say what." Chiron continued, not that Hades cared where his alcoholic nephew was. Though the idea that his brother was plotting something did perk his interest. Zeus had to be if he summoned the son he'd exiled to this camp to discuss it. That however was a concern for another time.

It did not take the god long to find his sister's room. As he walked in, the demigods who had been having what looked to be an animated conversation stopped talking and Nico shot up from his seat at the foot of Ophis' bed to greet his father. Likewise, Cerberus which had been happily lounging next to the Ghost King, munching on a chew toy stood and barked in greeting.

Hades waved away the greetings and the respectful bows from the other demigods. Though he idly noted how forced Jackson's sign of respect was. How typical of a son of Poseidon to not know their place and be reluctant to show their betters the respect they were owed.

"Hello Brother." Hestia greeted softly, from where she sat on the room's bed next to a sleeping Ophis. Not once looking up or stilling the hand she was running through their youngest sister's long hair.

"Evening Hestia." Hades returned with warmth as he walked over to his sisters. "I've come to take Ophis home."

"I had expected as much." Hestia said with a smile as she began gently shaking the sleeping girl awake. "It is time to wake up and go home, Ophis."

The Great Serpent tossed and turned in her sleep for a moment longer before she sat up on the bed and tiredly rubbed her eyes. "Already? I'm still sleepy."

"You can get some more sleep back in the palace." Hades offered kindly and much to the shock of everyone offered his arms to the little girl.

"Ok." Ophis mumbled sleepily as she let herself be picked up. She fell back asleep almost as soon as her head landed on Hades' shoulder.

The god smiled indulgently at his little sister and straightened from the slight crouch he had adopted to pick her up. Only then did he take note of the incredulous looks everyone was sending him, even Cerberus. The sole exception to this was Hestia who just smiled at him knowingly.

"What?" Hades barked defensively.

Ophis shifted uneasily, apparently disturbed by Hades' loud voice.

The god froze at this and shot a look to his sleeping sister before speaking to the others in a softer but still intimidating voice.

"Not a word."

The demigods nodded distractedly, probably still shocked by what they must consider uncharacteristic behavior on his part.

_Seriously, do those fools think I've never fathered daughters? That I would not know how to care for a little girl?_

Though Hades was uncertain whether their foolishness was better or worse than the knowing amusement that his son, Chiron and Cerberus were looking at him with.

Deciding to ignore it, the god summoned a shadow portal.

"Nico, Cerberus, come along. It is time to head home."

"Yes, Father." Nico replied, his amusement at his father's behavior still clear in his voice even as he followed after him and stepped through the portal with Cerberus still clutching his new chew toy in one of his mouths beside him.

As the portal closed up behind the Underworld family, Percy turned to Annabeth.

"Did that really just happen?" The son of Poseidon asked incredulously.

* * *

**And here's the second chapter.**

**Here we get to see how tightly Ophis has the elements of her Olympian family she's on good terms with wound around her little fingers. This was both cute and important later in** **The Rise of a New Power. How? Well, you'll have to wait and see.**

**Oh, and another interesting thing that happened in this snippet. Ophis made herself her first offspring. That's another thing that will play a big part in the future of this verse.**

**Well, that's about all I have to say this time around.**

**So until next time. Peace.**


	3. Shopping in New Rome

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.**

**Little Protogenoi's Tales**

**Chapter 3: Shopping in New Rome**

**Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply**

* * *

The sun shined down pleasantly on red tiled roofs, the wind blew between the white marble columns and through the streets. Altogether, it was a wonderful day in the city of New Rome.

It was in this welcome environment that a shadow in an alley off one of the city's main streets suddenly sprung unexpectedly to life and shifted into a portal from which two young figures exited.

"Uwah!" Ophis exclaimed as she admired the city around her.

Nico just nodded, as he too tried to contain his awe at seeing an ancient Roman city seemingly transported to the modern day.

"It's pretty amazing." The demigod finally conceded.

"Yup." Ophis agreed, nodding enthusiastically as she turned to her brother and tugged on his arm. "Let's go explore."

"Sure." Nico said as he easily allowed his sister to drag him along. "Though shouldn't we go announce ourselves to the locals first?"

Ophis came to a stop, causing Nico to almost walk right into her, thankfully his demigod reflexes allowed him to avoid that.

"Oppy?"

Pouting adorably, Ophis tilted her head to face her brother and replied, "I don't wanna. If we do, then they will all want to watch us or pay me homage or something. And that means we won't have as much fun."

Nico sighed. He knew Ophis was right, but he worried that this might come back to cause them trouble in the future. That said, he couldn't say no to his sister when she was looking at him like that.

"Ok. We'll do things your way."

"Yay!" Ophis cheered and tightening her grip on his arm, cheerfully pulled him into the main street.

Seeing how happy his little sister was, Nico couldn't help the smile that blossomed across his own face.

* * *

"Nico, Nico! Look they're selling unicorn draught." Ophis whispered excitedly to her brother as she held up a flask of the aforementioned liquid.

"Really?" Nico said in surprise.

Ophis shoved the flask into her brother's face.

"See for yourself! It says so right here."

Nico took a closer look at container and noted that his little sister was correct. "Wow! That's new."

The son of Hades was not so distracted by his surprise to fail to notice the confused and even suspicious stares that their conversation was inspiring from the handful of other people in the store that he and Ophis were currently exploring.

Ophis seemed outwardly oblivious, but Nico knew her well enough to see how her shadow was shifting uneasily. She noticed the looks alright, and was not happy about it. If he didn't do something soon, things might quickly become a bloodbath.

"Oppy, how about we go and find those unicorns?"

"Really?" Ophis asked cheerfully, her restless shadow calming. "Oh! I can't wait. Maybe I can get to ride one?"

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

It took the siblings only a few minutes to find their way to the city's stables. Ophis' powers could come in very handy sometimes.

"They are so pretty!" Ophis enthused as she eyed the many unicorns mulling around the stables. Nico wouldn't have phrased it quite that way but he had to admit that the unicorns did look pretty cool.

A stablehand nearby chuckled. "First time seeing a unicorn in the flesh, little girl?"

Ophis nodded as she spun to face the man and shot him the puppy dog eyes. "Can I ride one?"

The stablehand rubbed his chin in faux contemplation, even as he discreetly had a wordless conversation with the couple of teenagers that had been tailing the siblings since the shop. Apparently, receiving permission, he smiled and gave Ophis a nod. "Sure thing, little miss."

Ophis cheered.

As the man went to get a unicorn ready for Ophis, Nico took the time to speak to her about their stalkers.

"Oppy-"

Or at least he tried to. Before he could get further than calling out her name, she cut him off with a telepathic message.

_It's alright. They won't try anything. Not if we don't do anything threatening._

Nico sighed and changed his tack for the benefit of those spying on them. "Have fun."

_I hope you're right, Oppy._

"I will."

_Trust me, Big Brother._

Nico nodded with a smile, agreeing with both Ophis' verbal and telepathic replies. The two siblings waited in companionable silence for a few more minutes, admiring the unicorns with their majestic gold and silver horns, before the stablehand returned with a saddled foal for Ophis to ride.

Nico watched on as Ophis enjoyed every minute of her unicorn ride. At the same time though he kept a vigilant watch on their not so well hidden watchers.

* * *

"It was a fun day!" Ophis declared as she walked down the main street of New Rome with a baked dormice on a stick that she had bought off a street vendor in hand.

Nico was still feeling a little green at the idea of anyone, especially his little sister, eating something like that. Despite that, he managed to reply, "It has. So ready to go home?"

He certainly hoped she was. The number of tails they had picked up over the course of the day had grown quite a bit and he was starting to really get uneasy.

"Almost." Ophis shot back happily as she took a bite from her snack. Swallowing, she continued, "We just need to go pay Terminus our respects and we can go."

"Terminus? The god of boundaries, right?" Nico replied as he recalled what he had been told about New Rome from his father and from his own study of Roman mythology.

"Yup." Ophis said with a nod as she finished off her snack.

It did not take long for the two siblings to reach one of the boundary stones that denoted the Pomerian Line that outlined the limits of the city of New Rome and which served as the vessels for the god Terminus.

"Julia, move that stone back into its proper place." An animated stone bust ordered as the two siblings drew near. "Julia! Where are you? Didn't you hear me? I need your help."

A little girl, a year or two younger than Ophis, giggled as she hid behind the plinth that supported the god's body.

The two siblings exchanged a look and shrugged.

Taking a step forward, Ophis summoned her power and called out with it lacing her voice, " **Terminus.** "

Startled, the god turned his statue like body a 180 degrees to face Ophis.

"Who? No, wait! That's not important, how did you get into New Rome!? You're not one of its citizens or a legionary!" The god rambled out in quick succession as he gathered his wits.

As if in response to his uneasiness, the dozen or so followers that the siblings racked up over the course of the day suddenly showed themselves and surrounded them.

Nico tensed and summoned his sword. The warriors surrounding them, all wearing purple t-shirts the son of Hades noticed, tensed. Some reached for weapons that weren't there, others took stances similar to those he knew some of his fellow demigods fell into when they used their powers.

"A weapon! You dare!?" Terminus ranted at the sight of Nico's sword.

While everyone was preparing for what was shaping up into a deadly confrontation, Ophis just sighed in frustration.

"All I wanted was to have a nice day exploring the city but nooooo, things just _have_ to lead to a fight." Ophis whined. "Well, there's no way I'm going to let that happen. Not when I can help it."

"Oppy?"

"What nonsense are you talking about, gi-"

The god trailed off as his eyes widened in shock as Ophis transformed. Shedding her mortal disguise, she changed from her human form as a seven year old little girl into a massive winged serpent. Her scales were made out of smaller snakes of light sucking black and brilliant white. Her wings were so immense that fully outstretched as they were, they blotted out the sun.

Ophis had explained to Nico that it was a pale imitation of her true godly form, but it was a healthy medium that allowed her to utilise a greater percentage of her full powers than her human form while not having the effect of reducing mortals to ash that her true form would have. The son of Hades however was of the opinion that pale imitation or not, it was absolutely badass.

" **I am Ophis! The Great Serpent! Primordial of Time and Space! Daughter of Chaos and Saturn!** " The massive serpent protogenos announced herself.

For a moment, Terminus and the Romans were too stunned by this development to do anything.

Nico however was not.

"What are you waiting for? Stand down!" He ordered.

The Romans exchanged uneasy looks.

" **Heed my Big Brother and Champion!** " Ophis demanded as she narrowed her eyes at them, even as she folded her wings against her body and coiled up. Her equivalent, as Nico understood it, of shifting into a comfortable position when in this form.

"Do as they say you fools!" Terminus, having found his voice, demanded. "And bow. Show your respect!"

Prompted by their god, the Romans obeyed. Even as said god eyed Ophis' form appreciatively. Nico's eyes narrowed at this, but he trusted Ophis to handle things with other gods. That wasn't going to stop him from telling his Father about the Roman god's actions though.

It was to this scene, of Romans bowing before Ophis' godly form that that the legion led by their Praetors, arrived to.

"What's going on here?" The female Praetor, a teenaged girl of about sixteen with piercing black eyes and glossy black hair in a braid demanded.

Terminus was the one who replied, "We have been graced by a visit by Ophis, the youngest of the protogenoi."

"The youngest protogenoi?" The male Praetor, a handsome blond boy with electric blue eyes, asked in confusion.

" **I'm seven.** " Ophis informed helpfully.

Both Praetors and the dozens of squads of legionaries that had come with them both looked up at her at this, shock and awe written clearly across their faces.

Nico smirked, pleased with the response his sister was eliciting from the Romans. He always liked it when people recognized just how utterly awesome his little sister really was.

His smirk just grew even more smug as led by their Praetors, the Romans knelt before Ophis.

"You honour us with your presence, Lady Ophis." The female Praetor offered respectfully.

Ophis however barely paid her any mind, instead she seemed preoccupied with looking at how low the sun was in the sky.

" **Oh no! We're late! Big Brother Pluto is gonna be mad!** "

Nico paled as he realised that his little sister was right. His father would be furious at him if Ophis showed up late for dinner again. The Lord of the Underworld might not have initially known how to deal with having a little sister as young as Ophis, but he'd quickly grown into the role of the overprotective big brother.

"Oppy! We need to go. Now."

"I know, Nico! I know!" Ophis said nervously as she transformed back into her human form.

"I beg your pardon, Lady Ophis, I know you're in a rush." The blonde Praetor said, cutting into the mild panic that the two siblings had fallen into. "But do you have any instructions for us?"

Several people looked at the boy like he was an idiot but Terminus was nodding approvingly. Privately, Nico applauded the boy's foresight. Always assume a divine being has a task for you when they show up and always be sure to check just in case even when they don't tell you outright.

Ophis turned to the Romans, who were still kneeling. Quickly she looked towards Terminus and hummed in thought for a moment. Seemingly inspired, she spoke up, "I do. I want you Romans to build me a shrine to pay me homage like you honor Terminus here. I'll send the blueprint soon. Once it's built, I want you to offer tributes there. Brownies and candy for me, and rats for Fidi and Lily!"

The Romans muttered amongst themselves at this. They didn't seem to be too pleased that Ophis was demanding they build her a custom shrine. Nico was unimpressed with their attitude, his little sister was a protogenoi, something as simple as this was well within her due. If the rolling of Terminus' eyes as the Romans began to complain was any indication, the god agreed.

"Fidi and Lily?" The blonde questioned, silencing his men.

"We'll explain later." Nico cut in. "In the meantime, Oppy, we _really_ need to go."

Ophis nodded and without another word the siblings disappeared leaving behind a impressed looking god and a crowd of nervous and confused Romans.

* * *

**Chapter 3 is done!**

**And Ophis takes her first step into the Roman side of the Olympian world. This opens up so many avenues for me to have fun with. What do I mean? Well, you readers will just have to wait to see.**

**Before I sign off, I just want to talk about the dormice bit. Yeah, ancient Romans did eat the furry critters which are a type of rodent as a delicacy. Since this is the case, I thought why not have the New Romans maintain this little bit of classical Roman culture too? Hence, why Ophis was munching on one as a snack. Plus, she's a snake, so having her eat a rodent was just so appropriate that I couldn't resist.**

**Ok. I think that's all I have to say this time.**

**So until next time, peace.**


	4. A Island Getaway

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.**

**Little Protogenoi's Tales**

**Chapter 4: A Island Getaway**

**Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply**

* * *

Ogygia, was a phantom isle that existed everywhere and nowhere at once. It was the prison that had confined the Calypso, nymph daughter of the Titan Atlas for eons. Despite being a prison however, the island was a beautiful place. It had the climate of a sunny Mediterranean island, stretches of picture perfect sandy beaches and was surrounded by some of the most fantastic waters.

It was a paradise. And that was what Ophis and Nico had expected when the latter had teleported them there to meet up with Fidi. Instead, the siblings found themselves in the middle of a massive construction site.

All around them were buildings under construction, and statues being erected. Scythian Dracaena with hardhats and safety harnesses were everywhere working on the various constructions with dozens of immense serpents serving as stand-ins for cranes though there were a handful of the machines scattered about as well.

At the sight of their goddess, the dracena and giant snakes all immediately stopped what they were doing and paid Ophis homage.

Absently, Ophis gestured for them to return to work, even as she looked at everything around her in confusion.

"Oppy, you sure you teleported us to the right place?" A confusion that was evidently shared by her brother.

Using her powers, Ophis double checked before nodding hesitantly. "I'm sure. This is Ogygia."

"Isn't it supposed to be some kind of island paradise?" The little protogenos just nodded. "Then why is it suddenly a giant work site?"

"I can explain that." Fidi Douli, Ophis' loyal nymph handmaiden said as she teleported in front of the two children.

Nico jumped a little at Fidi's sudden appearance but Ophis was unfazed and instead gestured for her servant to continue.

"As you know, My Lady, this is where I brought your army after the Battle of Manhattan." Ophis nodded. "As a place outside of the normal flow of time and space it was a perfect place for us to retire to, especially considering your domains."

"Ophis is the Primordial of Time and Space and this is an island outside of both." Nico said contemplatively. "Very fitting. Good choice, Fidi."

"Thank you, Nico." Fidi said almost absently as she continued to look towards her mistress for her judgement.

"And all this construction?" Ophis asked, gesturing to the work going on all around them.

"A temple city that your subjects decided to build in your honor, Lady Ophis." A woman with caramel hair that was braided over one shoulder, peach-toned skin, pouty lips, dark almond-shaped eyes and a milky face that appeared timeless said as she walked over. She was dressed in a white sleeveless Greek dress with a low circular neckline trimmed in gold.

Ophis saw Nico tense and giggled in the privacy of her own mind at his protectiveness. She was a powerful protogenos surrounded by her army and he was worried that she could be in danger.

_Only Big Brothers._ Ophis mused in amusement.

Turning her attention to the new arrival, who her powers were helpfully informing her as Calypso, Queen of Ogygia, Ophis introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you Calypso." The seven year old said with a smile as she offered the older immortal her hand. "I'm Ophis."

Smiling pleasantly, the nymph shook the offered hand as she replied. "I know very well who you are, Lady Ophis. Your devoted servants have been quite happy to tell me all about you."

Ophis blushed in embarrassment at that. "I'm sorry about that."

Calypso waved it away. "It's no problem. I enjoyed having someone to talk to for a change."

"You still can't leave Ogygia?" Ophis asked with a frown. The gods had promised that she could. Had they failed to uphold their Oath?

"Oh no! I can, if I want. The gods have kept their word." Calypso hastened to clarify. "I've left a few times already. But I always come back."

"Why?" Nico asked curiously, only to earn himself a chiding look from Fidi.

Calypso smiled at the demigod and explained. "It's just, well, I don't really have anywhere else to go."

Ophis' frown deepened. "Why don't you go visit Percy? I heard you and him were friends."

Calypso gave the a sad sigh. "We might have been more than that, once. But he's moved on, so I've been reliably informed. I couldn't cause him trouble by showing up now."

Ophis blinked in confusion as she tried to make sense of what Calypso had just said. Nico seemed to get it though and replied immediately, "You're too generous."

"Aren't you the same, Nico di Angelo?" Calypso asked knowingly.

Nico flinched at this, before asking in a shaky voice, "Ho- How?"

"Experience."

Ophis looked between her brother and the nymph in confusion. "Nico?"

"It's nothing, Oppy." Nico replied with a guarded smile.

His little sister frowned a little at that but didn't press. If the son of Hades wanted to tell her about it, he would. In the meantime, she would respect his secrets.

Changing the subject, Ophis asked about what her subjects were doing.

"As I said, they are building a temple city to honor you."

"And you're alright with this?" Ophis asked the nymph. "With us just taking over your island?"

Calypso shrugged. "They've kept clear of my garden and even built me a new villa to stay in, so I can't really complain. Besides as I said earlier, I enjoy the company."

Ophis nodded hesitantly. She still didn't like it. Calypso might not have minded but just taking over her home like this was wrong.

"Fidi."

"Yes, mistress?" Fidi said as she stepped forward, only to wilt a little at the withering stare Ophis was leveling at her.

"Why didn't you tell me anything about this?"

"A thousand pardons, My Lady." Fidi said as she prostrated herself on the ground. An action that seemed to catch the attention of many of the dracaena and snakes in the immediate area, not that they hadn't been spying on the whole conversation so far despite her order to return to work, but now they weren't even keeping up the pretense of working and were focusing all their attention on them.

Nico looked a little unnerved by her behavior and was about to intervene but Calypso grabbed his arm firmly and shook her head when he turned to look at her. Ophis made a mental note to thank the daughter of Atlas later. If Nico had intervened, Ophis would have to respond accordingly. She couldn't look weak in front of her subjects, especially not when she was reprimanding one of them. Calypso had just saved her a lot of trouble.

"Answer me, Fidi Douli." Ophis insisted sternly.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Fidi confessed with an audible gulp.

The Great Serpent just gave her a resigned sigh at this. "And in so doing you have made me a ungracious guest by having my servants violate the hospitality of their host."

"But she didn't-" Fidi tried to defend herself, but Ophis cut her off.

"It doesn't matter whether Calypso minded. Did you even ask for her consent before you arrived on _her_ island? Or before you allowed my subjects to begin work on this city?"

Fidi very hesitantly shook her head.

"I would think not!" Ophis declared. "Because if you had then I would have had to come and make the agreements with Calypso as your master. That would've ruined the surprise wouldn't it?"

Fidi nodded.

"I know you had no ill intent, Fidi, but you have overstepped your bounds and must be punished for doing so. Do you understand?"

"Yes, My Lady." Fidi said in a small voice. It honestly hurt Ophis to hear her loyal handmaiden talk like that, but this needed to be done.

Sighing once more, Ophis passed her judgement. "For the next week, you are banished from my side." Gasps erupted all around, but both Fidi and Ophis ignored them. Though tears had started streaming down the former's face, being barred from the presence of her goddess even if only a week was a nightmare for the nymph who had been born to serve her. "You will stay and supervise the work here instead."

With those last words, Fidi vanished from sight.

Ophis took a long steadying breath as she calmed herself in the wake of what she'd done.

"Was that really necessary?" Nico asked as he wrapped a comforting arm over his little sister's shoulders. "I mean, you don't like being away from Fidi for more than a few hours. And now a whole week? Will you be able to handle that?"

"I have to." Ophis said with as much confidence as she could muster.

Turning to face Calypso, but not leaving the comforting embrace of her brother, the primordial addressed the nymph. "So you are agreeable to my people using your island as our own?"

"I formally cede ownership of the island of Ogygia to you, Lady Ophis." Calypso said with a comforting smile. At her words, she and the whole island glowed gold for a moment before the glow of the island changed into a mixture of black and white and an aura of the same two colors sprang up around Ophis.

"You didn't need to do that." Ophis said softly as the glow faded, surprised at the older woman's generosity.

"I don't really need the island and you do. So it just made sense."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

An idea suddenly sprung to Ophis' mind then. One that would allow her to repay Calypso and maybe make her own life a little easier.

"Calypso?" Ophis asked, a devious little smile spreading across her face.

"Yes, Lady Ophis?" The nymph replied, a beautiful eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"You mentioned you have nowhere to go, right?"

The nymph nodded.

"Well, why don't you become my Personal Assistant? That way you'll get plenty of chances to explore the outside world and with a purpose too." Ophis offered.

"Err… Oppy, isn't that Fidi's job?" Nico hesitantly commented.

"Technically? No. She's my handmaiden. Her job is to take care of my person." Ophis explained. "A personal assistant would handle my business things. Like dealing with correspondence with other gods, handling my subjects, etc."

Nico blinked. "How do you know that?"

"Big Brother Hades explained it to me. He said I should get a personal assistant, since Fidi was handling that on top of being my handmaiden and he worried she'd get overworked. He said if that happened then I'd have to do things myself and that's a pain."

The son of Hades groaned. Apparently unimpressed that his father was passing down his disdain for paperwork to his little sister.

Ignoring her brother, Ophis returned her attention to Calypso. "So, what do you think?"

Calypso who had been pondering the decision while the siblings talked, made her choice.

"Sounds good to me." The nymph said with a smile.

"Yay!" Ophis cheered, before throwing herself at Calypso and hugging her tight. "Welcome to the family!"

* * *

**And that's another chapter of this fic done.**

**Hope you guys like how I'm dealing with Calypso. I thought this would be an interesting alternative to her rather passive role in canon, since as Ophis' PA she actually exercises quite a bit of power and can even influence Ophis herself.**

**Besides that Ogygia was just too much of an ideal base of operations for Ophis for me to ignore. Though admittedly I only recalled its unique temporal properties as I started writing this chapter, but once I did I knew I had made the right choice. As for why Ophis needs a base of operations? Well, you'll have to read on to find out.**

**Anyways hope you liked the chapter. Please review and see you next time.**


	5. Visiting the twins

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.**

**Little Protogenoi's Tales**

**Chapter 5: Visiting the twins**

**Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply**

* * *

It was a bright and sunny day on the Mediterranean island of Delos. It was an island steeped in rich history. It was the place that the the Titaness Leto sought refuge to evade the wrath of Hera so as to birth her twins, Artemis and Apollo. It also housed many archaeological sites attributed to the ancient Greeks, Romans and beyond. It was thus a popular tourist destination for those exploring Greece, its myths and history.

On this day however the tourists had been cleared away by the power of the Mist from one of the island's most iconic landmarks, the theatre, to allow for a meeting of the gods.

The first of the gods attending this meeting, Apollo, god of of the sun, light, healing, music, poetry, archery, reason and prophecy, shifted impatiently in his seat.

"What's taking her so long?" He asked of his twin, Artemis, the virgin goddess of the hunt, the moon, chastity, animals, and the wilderness. "She was the one who wanted this meeting and now she's late?"

Sighing in frustration, the goddess looked up from the knife she had been sharpening to pass the time to glare at her brother. "They are not late. We are simply early. At your insistence, mind you. So stop whining."

"I'm not whining." The sun god shot back.

"You are."

"Am not." The god said with a smile, pleased with himself at riling up his sister. It might be a dangerous game - she was liable to stab him with a knife or arrow, if he pushed her too far - but it was still a better way to pass the time then doing nothing.

Unfortunately, Artemis was on to him as instead of continuing their little game she simply huffed in irritation and glared at him before changing the subject. "Why did you insist on us being early anyway?"

"A show of who is in control of course." Apollo explained. "We can't let a snake sense even the slightest hint of weakness."

Artemis rolled her eyes at this. "Really, brother? Your hatred of snakes is excessive."

"But not unjustified." Apollo shot back.

Artemis couldn't fault him there. After their experience with the dragon Python and how it had tried to kill their mother and themselves shortly before and after their birth, both of them had developed quite the aversion to serpents. Artemis herself had mostly grown out of it but Apollo never did.

_Well, that's just one more reason why he's the more immature twin._ The goddess thought to herself smugly.

Apollo looked ready to continue bantering, but both gods stilled when they sensed an immense power descending on their sacred isle. Turning to face the place where the power was coalescing, they watched as a fissure emerged in the very fabric of reality. From this impromptu portal, stepped out a small party.

A young boy that the twins knew to be Nico di Angelo, son of Hades and Champion of Ophis led the way. His body language spoke of caution. Despite the friendly nature of this meeting, he was ready for anything.

_Good. For a_ boy _._

The next to step out was the daughter of Atlas, Calypso. The former Queen of Ogygia was smartly dressed in a pantsuit and was clutching a tablet in her right hand. She looked every bit the personal assistant that she had become.

_Fitting, since she proved herself more than adept at the role._ Artemis grudgingly admitted. She normally disdained women who took on such stereotypically feminine occupations as she had, but in this case at least she was willing to give the nymph some respect. _Cutting through all the roadblocks that Apollo put up to delay this meeting in a matter of days where her predecessor had proven unable to in months? Most impressive._

The last and most certainly not the least member of the party was the protogenos of Time and Space, Ophis. The Great Serpent was in her human guise of a seven year old little girl. She was trying to look serious, and was mostly succeeding, but Artemis was _the_ Huntress and her sharp eyes easily spotted the various little tells that showed how her powerful young aunt was in awe of her surroundings and dearly wanted to explore it.

_Powerful though she may be, it would seem that she is at her core still just a little girl._

"Impressive entrance." Apollo noted with a frown, even as the tear in reality closed itself and their guests approached. "For a snake."

_He just had to add that last bit, didn't he?_

This was going to be a difficult meeting.

* * *

"Greetings, Lord Apollo, Lady Artemis." Calypso said, offering greetings to their hosts for all three of them. "And thank you for allowing this meeting."

The sun god looked ready to say something, possibly something nasty considering the dark look on his face but thankfully his sister preempted him.

"It was no problem. We are happy to have a chance to meet with our new Aunt, aren't we Brother?" The goddess of the hunt asked while shooting her twin a pointed look.

The god of prophecies merely gave a disgruntled nod.

_What's his problem?_ Ophis thought to herself, even as she stepped forward. Now that the pleasantries were out of the way, it was her turn to handle things.

"Artemis, Apollo, I'm here to apologize."

This seemed to throw the twin gods for a loop as they both sported looks of confusion. Artemis recovered first and asked, "What for, Ophis?"

The Great Serpent fidgeted uneasily at this. "Well, you remember when _Father-_ " Ophis spat the word out with terrible venom, so much so that both Nico and Calypso flinched. "-attacked Olympus during the Second Titanomachy?"

Artemis nodded, while Apollo commented that, "And you tried to go kill him only to end up fighting the Fates instead."

The god seemed pleased that she had been deprived of the chance to kill her father and get her revenge.

_He should be, though not for the reasons I think he has._ Ophis mused as she repressed the shudder that thinking about the bleak future that would have been the result of her killing her Father would have led to.

"Yes, and I ended up wrecking your temples during that fight. I'm very sorry about that." Ophis explained as she gave an apologetic bow that was emulated by both Nico and Calypso. Though she noted that her Brother's was little more than a shallow nod.

"Apology accepted. Though it was not a big deal. The damage has long been fixed." Artemis said graciously.

Her twin's response was far less positive.

"You asked to meet us just to apologize for that?" Apollo asked incredulously. "Why would a snake do something like this?"

"Apollo!" Artemis chided.

Ophis just tilted her head in confusion, what did her nature as a snake have to do with anything?

"You have to pardon my brother, Ophis," Artemis said apologetically. "He's hated serpents ever since Python."

"Python is a meanie!" Ophis said automatically at the mention of the dragon's name.

Both gods shot her surprised looks at her outburst, and Ophis flushed scarlet.

"Err… Well… You see… As the Great Serpent I tried to resurrect him to work for me, since he was a serpent and all." Ophis explained. "But he refused! He said he only worked for no one but himself. Then he called me all kinds of terrible names."

Ophis was getting upset just thinking about all the horrible things the monster had called her.

Nico's comforting hand on her shoulder helped her ground herself before she threw a tantrum. Doing that in front of a couple of Olympians would have been awfully embarrassing.

Both gods looked at her sympathetically.

"I can imagine. That old snake had quite the mouth. I very much enjoyed the sight of Apollo filling it up with his arrows."

"Sister is right. It made my century."

Ophis smiled, picturing the image in her mind.

"You know, you're quite alright for being a snake." Apollo said suddenly.

His twin palmed her face at the comment.

"Thanks?" Ophis replied uncertain if the god was offering genuine praise or a veiled insult.

"You're welcome." Apollo replied with a beaming smile, completely missing or more likely ignoring her confusion. "You're powerful and actually uses that power not like all those other lazy primordials. That makes you kickass."

Ophis puffed up a little with pride at that.

"And you're just the right age for me to spoil." This earned the god a jab to the ribs from his twin that he deftly avoided. "But most important of all, you have excellent taste in secretaries." At this, Apollo turned to leer at Calypso. "I mean, Calypso, you're an absolute knockout!"

Calypso just raised an eyebrow contemptuously even as Artemis smacked Apollo's head for what he said.

Ophis meanwhile was just a little confused. "Nico, what did he mean by saying that Calypso is a knockout?"

"It means he was inappropriately saying that she is very attractive." Artemis explained, before a stuttering Nico could muster the composure to do so.

"Oh! But why didn't he just say she was pretty?"

"Because he is a man. They wouldn't know the first thing about how to respect a woman." Artemis replied, even as she glared at her brother almost daring him to contradict her. Considering his silence, he clearly wasn't going to try his luck.

That didn't sound right to Ophis though. She knew plenty of boys that treated girls with respect. There was her Big Brothers Nico, Hades and Chiron. Then there were all those boy Telekhines and Cyclopes that she had working for her now. They were all very polite to her and other girls.

"Don't try to infect my Little Sister with your man hating ways, _Lady Artemis_." Nico cut in, speaking the goddess' name with such distaste that it might as well have been poison. Ophis wasn't surprised. After all, Nico blamed Artemis for what had happened to their Big Sister, Bianca. She was actually very impressed that he had held himself back from saying or doing anything until now.

The goddess wasn't so understanding though and she leveled a baleful gaze on the boy.

" **Artemis**." Ophis hissed in warning.

The huntress took the the hint and backed down though she continued to shoot Nico disdainful looks. Apollo in turn shot him an apologetic and sympathetic smile. Though from the looks of it Nico was unaffected by the response of either god, as he continued to glare at Artemis unabated.

For her part, the goddess was unfazed by the demigod's glare and instead chose to continue as if she had not been interrupted. "Men can be terrible things to women. They can force their desires on them, forcing them to change to suit their whims and giving up parts of themselves in the process."

Ophis frowned. Were men really so terrible?

"That might be true for some men, Lady Artemis." Calypso, who had been silent up till now in respect of her superiors, cut in. "But surely not all men are such wretched things."

"That is true." Artemis acknowledged with a nod. "However, the majority of them are."

"I would beg to differ." The nymph countered. "But that is an argument for another time I think. Tell us, Lady Artemis, what is the point you are trying to make?"

Ophis nodded, she wanted to know that too.

The maiden goddess shot the nymph a annoyed look before turning her attention back towards Ophis. "The point I am trying to make is that you, Ophis, would do well to stay away from the corrupting nature of men."

"And how do you propose she does that?" Apollo asked sounding almost chiding.

"By taking up a vow to remain a virgin goddess, of course." Artemis replied matter of factly.

The others were stunned into silence by the goddess' blunt declaration.

This stupor was broken when Ophis innocently asked, "A virgin goddess?"

She knew it meant never getting married. But it meant more than that, right? At least that was the impression she was getting from what Artemis was saying and everyone's reaction.

Artemis looked ready to speak, but Apollo quickly covered her mouth. He earned himself a harsh jab to the ribs in the process, but nevertheless held on to keep her quiet.

Calypso meanwhile stepped forward to explain, "It's not something you need to worry about for some time, My Lady." Nico nodded empathetically to this. "Isn't that right, Lady Artemis?"

The goddess who had by now wrestled free of her brother and in fact had him pinned to the ground in a submission hold seemed ready to protest, but before she could was interrupted when a pillar of fire erupted right next to her.

Out of the pillar, stepped out a visibly upset looking Hestia. The goddess of the hunt paled at her arrival.

"Well, Artemis? Calypso is correct, is she not?" The goddess of the hearth demanded of her niece.

"Yes, of course." Artemis hastily replied even as she released Apollo.

Ophis just looked on at the whole scene in confusion. _What just happened?_

"I think we're done here, aren't we Artemis?" Apollo said as he stood up.

Artemis just nodded even as Hestia continued to look at her reproachfully.

"Good. Then let's go. See you around, Aunt Hestia, Aunt Ophis, Calypso." With one last wink at Calypso, the sun god grabbed his twin by the arm and teleported the both of them away in a burst of light.

"Thanks for the save, Lady Hestia." Nico said sincerely.

"It was no problem, Nico." Hestia replied with a smile, her displeasure fading away. "Artemis was overstepping her bounds. I merely reminded her of that."

"And of the number of enemies she would have ended up making if she went any further." Calypso added.

With an uncharacteristic little mischievous smile, Hestia agreed. "That too."

"Err… Could someone explain what happened? I'm confused." Ophis asked.

Smiling at her Little Sister, Hestia offered her hand as she replied. "Of course, Ophis. Why don't we do it over tea?"

Ophis perked up at that. Teatime with Hestia was always great fun. "Ok. But you've gotta explain things to me properly, ok?"

"Of course, now come along."

Ophis nodded and followed her sister into the flames of a newly conjured pillar of fire with her brother and personal assistant following dutifully behind her.

* * *

**And that's chapter 5 done.**

**I'm not too happy with this chapter. It feels like I crammed too many things into it. On the other hand, I also don't want to include some of these things later in the story where they would be disruptive to the flow of the narrative or create entirely new separate snippets to address these points… So I guess, I'll just be lazy and shove them all here even if it means creating a overpacked chapter.**

**Ok, the other big thing I want to talk about this chapter is Ophis' innocent confusion over what it means to be a virgin goddess. Basically this is a devil in the details situation. Ophis knows in broad terms what it means i.e. never getting married. But she doesn't know that it also means swearing off romantic and sexual relations with men altogether. She's too young to really need to know that and her various instructors in the nature of the Olympian world know this (even her Titanic ones during her time as their prisoner. No one wanted to risk Kronos' wrath for despoiling the mind of his little princess.) and so did not tell her.**

**Taking this into consideration, everyone else was pissed with Artemis because she was basically about to 1) Give Ophis the Sex Talk (necessary to explain what a vow of maidenhood really entails like Ophis demanded) when she's still way too young and 2) Try to trick Ophis into taking a vow of maidenhood when she doesn't really understand what it means. Either of this would upset those who care for Ophis, but both? To say they are furious is putting it mildly. Hence, why everyone's strong reactions. Nico, Calypso and Hestia (acting as representative of the rest of Kronos' children) for the above reason. While Apollo was trying to stop Artemis from digging her own grave any deeper. Not that he was very successful, the damage has been done and Artemis will have a very uncomfortable time for the foreseeable future.**

**That's it I think.**

**Please review and see you next time. Peace.**


	6. New Mother Blues

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.**

**Little Protogenoi's Tales**

**Chapter 6: New Mother Blues**

**Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply**

* * *

"I want mummy!" A shrill cry echoed through the halls of Ophis' Waldorf Astoria suite as she, Nico and Fidi materialized in its living room.

Fidi winced at the sound, while Nico and Ophis just blinked in confusion and looked at the nymph questioningly.

"The Young Mistress has been like that for almost an hour now, My Lady." The nymph explained while looking just a touch overwhelmed. "We've tried everything but nothing has worked."

"Which is why you decided to call Ophis?" Nico asked sounding a little surprised. Ophis knew he thought Fidi was some kind of wonder woman that could handle anything, so that was to be expected.

"You should have called me sooner, Fidi." Ophis informed as she started walking towards the room from which the voice was coming from.

As they neared, the trio managed to make out a new voice speak up in a calming voice, "Please be patient Lady Lily. The Great Serpent will be here soon, Lady Fidi has gone to fetch her."

Lily however was in no mood to be patient.

"I don't wanna! I want mummy now!" The sheer shrillness of this cry was so intense that everyone winced a little.

_Is this what Fidi and the other nannies have been dealing with for the past hour? If so, they deserve a raise._ Ophis mused to herself as she pushed open the door to her daughter's nursery.

The room was a marvel. Despite originally being a standard if opulent bedroom, Ophis had used her powers to transform it into a slice of the tropical rainforest. Genuine living trees grew within the changed spatial confines of the room, their trunks soaring high into the air in search of the light from the magical light source that Ophis had conjured to simulate the sun and the moon. A creek flowed across the forest floor and was surrounded by a large variety of plants and fungi in recreation of a rain forest's undergrowth. All over the room, exotic fauna of all kinds roamed. Up to and including a jaguar that was currently cowering at the very edge of the room's confines. Ophis had spared no expense in creating an environment that she felt would make her daughter comfortable and happy.

Not that it seemed to be working at the moment.

As her daughter, Lily was curled up unhappily at the centre of the room throwing the mother of all tantrums. Shouting demands and throwing things around all while her caretakers, a pair of matronly dracanae did their best to calm her down.

This all changed however the moment that Ophis opened the room's door. Lily spotted her immediately and instantly threw herself at her mother with an exuberant cry.

"Mummy!"

Most people would have been bowled over by a fourteen feet long, seventy plus pound snake throwing itself around them. Much less a slender seven year old girl. However, Ophis was not simply a little girl and she easily caught her spawn without so much as stumbling, not even as Lily coiled herself around her relatively tiny body.

"Hello, Lily." Ophis greeted as she leaned down and kissed the snake's head just below the bow she always wore.

"Hello Mummy!" The now shy serpent returned as she ducked her head to avoid eye contact with her mother.

"Great Serpent! Thank you for coming." The two dracanae said earnestly as they bowed deeply before their goddess. They normally weren't so informal, even after months of working for her as Lily's nannies, but it seemed that they were too tired from handling Lily's earlier tantrum to maintain the polite distance they normally did. Ophis just wished they could be like this more often.

"The thanks are mine, Sara, Vera, for looking after Lily for me. Especially when she's throwing a tantrum." Ophis said, turning to look accusingly at her spawn at the last bit. On her part, Lily continued to refuse to meet her mother's eyes though she stiffened a little at the jab. "I'll take it from here. Why don't you two go take a rest. I'll summon you if I need you."

The two dracaena nannies nodded their understanding and slithered past Ophis and out of the room, exchanging polite nods with both Nico and Fidi as they passed.

As they departed, Ophis turned her attention to Lily.

"Lily dear, mind telling me why you were so upset?" Ophis asked in a motherly voice.

Shifting uneasily, Lily mumbled out a reply. "I missed you."

If Ophis had been human, there would have been no way she'd have heard that. Fortunately though she was not and did not aggravate her daughter by asking her to repeat herself.

"So you threw a tantrum?"

Lily didn't reply but she didn't need to, considering the circumstances it was a rhetorical question anyway.

Ophis was about to reprimand Lily for her bad behavior when Fidi stepped in with a telepathic message.

_You have been away on business quite often lately, My Lady._

The Great Serpent shot her handmaiden a angry look but before she could say anything Nico spoke up as well.

"Hey Lily, you know you can't do that right? It's not nice to Sara and Vera." The demigod chided his niece.

"I know, Uncle Nico." The young snake said in a small voice. "Oh! I forgot! Hello, Uncle Nico, Auntie Fidi!"

"Hello Young Mistress," Fidi returned, as Nico offered a wave.

Ophis, tired of being cut out of the conversation, cleared her throat and looked down to look Lily in the eyes. "Well, Lily, you wanted to spend time with me, correct?" Lily nodded enthusiastically. "So now that I'm here, what do you want to do?"

The bow wearing snake seemed a little startled by the question.

"You hadn't thought about that, have you?" Nico said as he laughed good naturedly at Lily.

"Err…"

"Take you time, Young Mistress, there's no rush." Fidi encouraged.

Ophis didn't fully agree. She would really like to get back to Ogygia and get back to working with Calypso on her new hires for her staff. But she knew when she'd lost the fight and with Nico, Fidi and Lily all wanting her to stay for awhile, she knew full well that there was no hope of victory.

Resigning herself to her fate, she stroked her daughter's scales tenderly and asked in a kind voice, "Well, Lily?"

"Could we play blocks?" Lily said shyly a moment later.

Conjuring a patch of raised concrete in the middle of the rainforest room with a big box of toy blocks resting on top of it, Ophis shot her daughter a smile.

"Of course."

* * *

A couple hours later found Ophis, Fidi and Nico seated in the living room for some hot drinks after a tiring play session with Lily. Said daughter of Ophis was currently having a nap under the watchful eyes of her two dracaenae nannies.

"Did I exhaust the carers back at St. Mary's when I was as young as Lily? If I did, I can see why they were always so strung out." Ophis mused as she nursed her cup of hot chocolate.

"You talk as if you don't regularly tire me out keeping up with you as you play." Nico shot back teasingly before taking a sip of his own hot chocolate.

Ophis blushed at Nico's teasing observation and hid her face behind her mug.

Fidi just smiled at the exchange between the siblings and took a nice long sip from her coffee.

The trio sat in companionable silence for a moment, before Ophis turned to Fidi. "Fidi, has Lily been acting up like this often lately? I mean she's always extra clingy nowadays whenever I'm with her."

"Yeah, sometimes literally. Remember that time she cut off your air supply because she squeezed you so tight? You're lucky you don't need to brea-"

A cushion flying through the air straight at him forced Nico to cut himself off as he dodged his sister's throw.

"Shut up about that Nico." A red faced Ophis hissed. That had been horribly embarrassing for her, as it happened while she had been talking to a couple of the minor gods that she wanted to buy some stuff from. Having been cut off mid-sentence because your daughter was hugging you a little too tight wasn't exactly part of the impression of a powerful protogenos that she had been working to convey.

Holding his hands up in surrender, even as his teasing smile never left his face, Nico replied. "Shutting up now."

Ophis pouted at her brother's clearly insincere behavior.

Fidi stifled a giggle at the bickering and once she had regained her composure answered her mistress' earlier question, "She has thrown a few more tantrums lately. But it's only natural, you're been away more lately, My Lady, and the Young Mistress misses you."

Ophis frowned at this, "But I can't help it. I can't exactly take her along as I do all my business, can I?"

"You could try." Nico suggested with a shrug. "Don't think it's a good idea though."

"I agree with Nico, My Lady."

"Then what can we do? I don't want to upset Lily like this either." Ophis said with a dejected sigh as she finished the last of her drink and set the mug on the coffee table.

Fidi just shook her head apologetically. "I'm afraid I am just as unsure on how to proceed as you are, My Lady."

Ophis turned to Nico with a hopeful look. The son of Hades sank back against the couch a little in unease at the look, but managed to offer, "Err… Maybe we could ask around? Other goddesses who are mothers?"

"Hmm…" Fidi hummed as she leaned back in her seat on the loveseat and took a sip of her coffee. "That does sound like a good idea."

"I agree! Thank you for the idea, Big Brother!" Ophis said with a brilliant smile on her face. "So who should we start with first?"

Put on the spot once more, Nico nervously adjusted the collar of his shirt as he uncertainly replied, "Er… Hera? She's the goddess of motherhood, right?"

Clapping her hands and practically bouncing in her seat in her excitement, Ophis flicked a wrist and summoned a tear in reality. On the other side, was a tall and graceful goddess, with long, chocolate-brown hair braided in plaits with golden ribbons, eyes that shone with power, and a sunny smile. She was wearing a simple white dress the fabric of which shimmered with colors like oil on water whenever she moved.

"Ophis?" The Queen of Olympus asked curiously as she looked through the makeshift portal.

"Hi Big Sister Hera! Can I talk to you about something?" The little protogenos cheerfully asked.

Hera blinked in confusion before slowly nodding. "Of course."

"Cool." Ophis cheered. "Well, you see…"

* * *

An hour later the trio were feeling much less cheerful and optimistic about their idea of getting advice. Despite talking to multiple goddesses, they had not managed to come up with anything resembling worthwhile advice.

At all.

After Ophis had finished explaining the situation with Lily, Hera had suggested that Ophis simply send Lily away to be fostered. Effectively making her someone else's problem. Ophis, Fidi and Nico had both been shocked and dismayed to hear the Goddess of Family even make such a suggestion. As such shortly after that and some rushed goodbyes, Ophis had ended the 'call'.

Next they had tried Ophis' other sister, Demeter. But the goddess of agriculture was just as unhelpful, since her suggestion of keeping Lily close always - interspersed with warnings of potential kidnappers if she did not - wouldn't fix anything. In fact, they reasoned it would just make things worse.

So they'd tried Persephone next. Unfortunately, the daughter of Demeter and wife of Hades was just as bad at giving advice as the other goddesses. She had suggested of all things to simply ignore Lily altogether. Ophis had suffered through similar treatment sometimes back at St. Mary's and knew how terrible that could be for someone, so there was no way she would ever allow it to happen if she could help it much less carry it out himself.

Now with the options that had immediately come to mind exhausted, Ophis had summoned Calypso to see if she had any good ideas.

"Well I think you have the right idea." Calypso said as Ophis explained why she had been summoned. "Though perhaps you were just asking the wrong people."

"Who would you suggest then?" Fidi asked snidely. She still wasn't completely happy that Calypso had effectively taken half of her duties and was taking every opportunity, such as this one, to prove it.

Calypso thought about it for a moment, before coming up with a surprising suggestion.

"Echidna."

"You can't be serious!" Nico exclaimed, "She's a monster."

Calypso nodded. "The _mother_ of monsters."

"Like that's any better."

"Nico, be nice." Ophis said even as she crossed her arms in her lap and looked towards Calypso sternly. "Why Echidna?"

"You're tried the goddesses, haven't you? And they've not been helpful. So it stands to reason then, My Lady, that it is time to expand your options a little." Calypso offered confidently.

"She has a point." Fidi admitted grudgingly.

Ophis pondered the matter for a moment before shrugging. "I guess it's worth a try."

Nico was ready to protest, but Ophis had already conjured a new fissure in reality. The vista on the other side was a blasted ruin of a wasteland lit up only by hellish fires raging across the twisted landscape. The woman on the other end of the connection was just as, if not more terrible to look at than the place she lived in, she had a human head but with bright green reptile's eyes, a forked tongue, fangs for teeth and her whole body, both her humanoid head and the rest of its serpentine length was covered in scales.

"Greetings Ophis." Echidna, Mother of Monsters, said.

"Hello, Echidna." Ophis returned cautiously. "You seem to be expecting me."

The monstrous woman smiled, exposing more of her terrifying teeth. "Of course I was. Your little search for advice on how to handle that spawn of yours has very quickly spread down the gossip grapevine. I was eagerly awaiting my turn."

"Not much else to do, eh?" Nico commented even as he eyed the monster with suspicion and distaste.

"In Tartarus? Unfortunately not. Though that is changing lately."

"What do you mean by that?" Ophis asked curiously.

"Nuh-uh!" Echidna said as she shook her head negatively. "I'm afraid that's something you'll have to figure out on your own. I can't help you there, Ophis."

"But you _can_ help with My Lady's more pressing problem?" Calypso cut in when it looked like Ophis was unwilling to take no for an answer.

The Great Serpent pouted at that, though she knew Calypso was probably doing the right thing. Pushing would probably just annoy Echidna and destroy any chance of her giving advice about dealing with Lily.

"Of course, and more than willing to do so." Echidna said generously. "We mothers have to stick together after all."

"Thank you, Echidna." Ophis replied genuinely. "So what do you recommend I do with Lily and her clinginess?"

"For now? Just bear with it. It is probably just a phase. Give her a few months, a year or two at most and she'll grow of it."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then call me again and we'll talk."

"That actually sounds like good advice." Fidi said sounding rather shocked.

"Of course it is. Have you seen the size of my brood? Of course I know how to take care of children." Echidna proudly declared.

"That's true." Ophis admitted. "Thank you for the help, Echidna."

"It was no problem, dear." The wife of Typhon said cheerily.

"Well then, goodbye." Ophis said as she waved at the monster, the tear she'd created sealing itself shut.

"Goodbye, Ophis. Good luck." The prisoner of Tartarus offered in parting as the fissure closed completely.

"That was surreal."

"What do you mean Nico?" Ophis asked in confusion.

"I mean, Echidna, a monster gave us better advice than all the mother goddesses combined." Nico said with a bemused shake of his head. "Who would have thought that possible?"

"I don't see why it's so strange." Calypso said as he glared at Nico challengingly. "Just because she's a monster does not mean that she can't be a good mother."

Nico held up his hands defensively, and replied. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. I was surprised is all."

"You're not the only one." Ophis confessed. "I guess it just goes to show that it's not good to judge anyone by their stereotypes."

"Well said, My Lady." Fidi complimented even as Calypso nodded in agreement.

Before Ophis could reply, Vera slithered into the living room.

"I beg your pardon Great Serpent, but the Young Mistress has just woken up and is calling for you."

Sighing, Ophis stood up.

"I'm on my way."

_A mother's duty is never really done, is it?_

* * *

**And Chapter 6 is done.**

**Little bit of serendipity caught me when I wrote this chapter. I hadn't planned for it at all, but by pure chance I ended up writing this chapter on the Mother's Day weekend. And yes, I had planned this chapter to be all about Ophis' motherhood from the get-go, months and months ahead of the date I actually wrote it, so yeah… serendipity.**

**Ok, so besides that I think there's one more thing to say that hasn't already been said in the chapter itself. Namely, how Ophis is increasingly taking on adult responsibilities and is at times acting less and less like the child she is. Well, let me just say that this is completely intentional. What does that mean in terms of the plot? Well, you'll have to read to find out.**

**On another note, this is the last chapter of this snippet collection for now. There's one more chapter that I've done already but that's a teaser for the proper sequel to The Search for Home so in line with my policy to leave no eternal cliffhangers/unfinished stories I'll publish that only when I'm ready to start publishing the sequel too.**

**So for now, I hope you've enjoyed this series so far. Hope to see you in the sequel.**

**Please review. Peace.**


	7. First Contact

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Riordanverse.**

**Little Protogenoi's Tales**

**Chapter 7: First Contact**

**Betas: None so far, you're welcome to apply**

* * *

Sunny's Espresso Pump, was an unremarkable coffee shop in Manhattan. One of dozens of similar establishments, there was nothing particularly noteworthy to set it apart from its compatriots. This was however about to change as on this early winter day it was about to receive some truly important visitors.

Not that its owners or regulars would ever know that.

For these guests were not some famous celebrity or influential politician. No, it was about to be graced by no less than Ophis, the Great Serpent, Time and Space Embodied. Sadly, this meant that to preserve the sanity of the mortal world, the Mist would keep her true nature forever hidden to those who saw her there.

These fortunate mortals would however remember a cheerful seven year old girl with beautiful waist length hair and dressed in an elaborate gothic lolita dress dragging in a young teenage boy with ghostly white skin and wearing dark clothing decorated with many skeletal designs into the store. From the way the two behaved, the boy letting the girl drag him around while he hid his amusement at her cheerfulness, it was clear that the two were siblings. Very close ones at that.

As heartwarming as seeing two young children getting along so well was, that was not what would sear this day into the memories of Sunny's occupants. That honour went to the young woman that was escorting them. She had caramel hair braided over one shoulder that gave off a cinnamon fragrance which filled the whole shop, dark almond-shaped eyes and a milky face that shone with a timeless beauty. She looked 15 or 16, but by her attire (a very professional looking skirt suit) and her mannerisms, she must have been in her early twenties. The mortals were utterly captivated by this beauty as she ushered her charges into the store.

A fact that Ophis noticed immediately as she squeezed into a seat next to the window at one of the booths. "Calypso, they're all staring at you."

Embarrassed to be caught in the act, the majority of the gawkers quickly looked away.

"Thank you, My Lady." Calypso offered genuinely, only to be met with a confused and hesitant nod in reply.

"Err… No problem? Why were they staring anyway?"

"Because she's pretty and mortals can be idiots sometimes." Nico explained as he grabbed the menu set out on the table.

"That's not how I would phrase it." Calypso said even as she sent Nico a chiding look. "But essentially Nico is correct."

Nico looked up from the menu and give a nonchalant shrug.

"Don't mind Big Brother, Calypso. He's just upset that we're meeting the Oracle." Ophis cut in quickly in a bid to preserve the peace.

"Understandable. After all, the bad blood the House of Hades had with the Oracle of Delphi is well known and only recently overcome." Calypso said diplomatically avoiding mentioning that the recently healed grudge was deeply personal for Nico as it revolved around his father blaming the Oracle for the death of his mother.

Nico ignored the two females and instead flagged down a waiter and placed his order. Ophis and Calypso following suit as well.

"I won't lie and say that _that_ doesn't factor into why I dislike the whole idea of meeting with Dare." Nico explained as the waiter left to fill out their order. "But what I really don't like is that I don't know _why_ you'd even need to see her, Ophis."

Ophis squirmed in her seat at the questioning look that Nico was shooting her with.

"I'm just curious about something is all." Ophis said unconvincingly. Nico sighed and Calypso frowned slightly, both clearly frustrated that she was unwilling to tell them the real reason behind her sudden desire to know the future.

Ophis really wanted to tell them. She really did. But she couldn't. Because if she explained her reasons, she'd have to tell them how if things went a certain way then she'd be fated to destroy the world. She couldn't bear the looks of horror and disgust that they'd feel towards her if they knew.

She had feared it so much that she had been prepared to never think about that horrible vision of a possible future that the Fates had shown her after the end of the Second Titanomachy. And she'd mostly succeeded in doing so, until recently.

For days now, Ophis had been plagued in her sleep by nightmares as snippets of that terrible vision - Nico dying, her destroying the world - combined with new horrors - her friends new and old dying - to haunt her. As the primordial of time and space, her dreams were no mere involuntary creations of the mind. They were portents and glimpses into past, present and future. Thus as her night terrors grew both in frequency and clarity, it could only mean that the chances of them coming true were growing.

And that was why she wished to speak to the Oracle of Delphi, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Ophis wanted to ask the Oracle to advise her on how to prevent that terrible future from ever becoming reality.

Ophis was brought out of her musings when Calypso's phone rang. As she answered her call, the waiter returned with their orders and Ophis happily reached over to snag her hot chocolate.

The little girl had just finished a sip of liquid goodness, when Calypso ended her call. "Well, it looks like Ms. Dare is running late."

"What happened? Her limo got stuck in a jam?" Nico said unkindly as he sank back into the booth's cushioned seat, settling down for a possibly long wait. Though he had to avoid a reprimanding smack on the arm from Ophis as he did so.

"Unfortunately. There's apparently been an car accident and she's stuck in the jam that it created." Calypso clarified, even as Nico paled a little - quite a feat considering his complexion - and looked away guiltily. "No one is hurt, thankfully, but two lanes on the road are closed because of the accident."

"It's good that no one was hurt. We're not in a hurry, so we can wait." Ophis declared as she took another sip of her drink. "I just hope Rachel doesn't take too long, I don't want Lily to throw another tantrum if I can help it."

"You worry too much, My Lady. Fidi is in charge of looking after her today, I'm sure she'll manage to keep the Young Mistress occupied." The daughter of Atlas assured her employer.

"Yeah, and don't forget Bob's there too." Nico chimed in. "Lily loves having him around, I'm sure she'll be fine."

The young protogenos nodded even as she fought to keep a frown off her face at the mention of the Titan formerly known as Iapetus but now called Bob. She had mixed feelings about her uncle. On one hand, he had been part of her hated father's Titanic host and from all accounts been quite the monster. But on the other, she pitied his current circumstances. Having been exposed to the waters of the River Lethe while fighting Nico, Percy and Thalia Grace, his whole identity had been washed away by the memory stripping river… That was a terrible fate. One that despite his past allegiance and crimes, she could not truly approve of.

Unfortunately, it was not her place to pass judgement on the Titan.

"So how long do we need to wait?" Nico asked as he impatiently tapped his fingers on the table.

"About ten minutes." Calypso replied as she took a sip from her coffee and scrolled through something on her tablet. "Not long at all."

"But long enough." A menacing voice boomed from everywhere at once.

The trick didn't fool Ophis though and she immediately spun to face the source of the voice.

The earth outside the road, both the sidewalk and a decent patch of the road, had suddenly become almost liquid, like quicksand. From this strange patch of ground, a being slowly emerged almost as if he was rising on some kind of hidden elevator. He was a shriveled, wizened Giant in a tattered sackcloth tunic, that was 25 feet tall with ratty grey hair, a wrinkled face, eyes milky with cataracts and whose legs were covered in dragon scales as white as frost.

Ophis' powers immediately identified him as Thoon, the Gigantes born to oppose the Fates.

The mortals who had by now spotted Thoon's rather dramatic and hard to miss appearance were all looking on in shock. This quickly turned into terror however as the Giant raised a massive meat cleaver, at least 10 feet long, over his head and brought it down in a powerful swing. The force of the attack managing to chop a massive hole into the side of the building that housed Sunny's right where Ophis and company's booth had been.

Fortunately for our heroes, Ophis had acted swiftly and teleported all three of them to safety moments before the massive blade fell upon them.

"Calypso, make sure the mortals are taken care of." Ophis ordered as the trio re-materialized down the street.

"Yes, My Lady." The nymph replied as she began to teleport the mortal bystanders to safety.

"Thoon, why are you doing this?" Ophis demanded as she began to advance on the Giant, her monochrome aura blooming to life around her.

"I should be asking you that question, Aunt." The Giant shot back. "Meeting the Oracle in a bid to manipulate fate? What are you thinking? I'd have thought that you'd learned your lesson about that already."

Ophis winced, she had learned that lesson. But she also knew that the fate she was trying to avoid was not yet written. She still had a chance to change it.

There had to be.

"Though I suppose it's understandable that you'd want to change that fate. It's quite terrible, isn't it?" Thoon continued tauntingly. "Well, you're in luck!" Ophis raised a brow at this, though she never slowed her cautious march. "I'm here to destroy that fate by _killing you!_ "

At the last two words, the Giant surged forward with his huge blade ready to slash Ophis to pieces. He never got the chance. He barely took a single step before the protogenos' aura lashed out and a black and white beam of pure power lanced out and disintegrated his entire right side, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Hahahaha!" The grievously wounded Giant laughed as he pushed himself to his feet.

_Feet? What? I just disintegrated his right leg!_

"The look on your face is priceless. Surprised, Aunt?" Thoon said condescendingly as he walked over to pick up his fallen weapon, even as his wounds continued to rapidly heal. "As a Giant, I can only be killed under very specific circumstances."

Ophis frowned even as she waved her hand at the Giant and sent a wave of raw energy that engulfed him. It ate away at him, destroying his skin, flesh and even whittled away at his very bones. But it did not kill him. Instead, his body seemed to heal almost as quickly as he was hurt.

"It's useless Aunt," The son of Gaea said as he lazily closed the distance with Ophis, weathering the repeated waves and beams of power she shot his way. "Thanks to my Giant Invincibility, not even someone as powerful as you can kill me."

"Maybe not alone." Ophis conceded, though she remained uncowed as she glared at the still advancing Giant.

"But she's hardly alone." Nico said as he announced his continued presence on the battlefield, even as he Shadow Traveled out of the shadows cast by one of the buildings on the street. His choice of shadow and his timing were perfect as it allowed him to emerge at just the right spot in mid-air to decapitate the arrogant Giant while it was busy focusing on Ophis.

As the head fell towards the earth, Ophis disintegrated it with a quick energy bolt even as she twisted space to reduce the distance of Nico's fall, thus allowing him to land safely on the ground without hurting himself.

"Idiot. Did he forget that Giants need a demigod and a god working together to kill? Or maybe he forgot I was here?" Nico mocked the headless Thoon.

Ophis agreed but said nothing. She was frankly more concerned with how Nico was so readily and recklessly incorporating exhausting Shadow Travel into his fighting style. She'd have to have a talk with him about-

The Great Serpent's thoughts about the matter were derailed when she finally noticed an important fact: Thoon's headless body was still standing!

"Nico! Watch out!"

Ophis' shouted warning was too late though and the son of Hades had just looked up in surprise when he was blindsided by a punch from the Giant he had thought he had just killed. The blow was enough to send the Ghost King flying through the air before he crashed into a the wall and slumped at its base unconscious.

"Who's the idiot no-"

Thoon never got the chance to finish gloating as fresh from regenerating his head, his whole body was promptly reduced to ash by an energy beam.

A utterly furious Ophis began marching towards the pile of ash that was already repairing itself. Her aura had previously been like a controlled flame that enshrouded her but now, responding to her rage, it had transformed into a blazing pillar of power with tendrils of raw energy snaking out from it in all directions that disintegrated all they touched. All except for the tendril that carefully picked up her Big Brother and deposited him into the waiting arms of Calypso who promptly teleported him away.

"Angry are you-"

Again Ophis did not allow Thoon to finish as she loomed over his head, glaring down at him with eyes ablaze with power from which she shot twin beams of terrible power that once more reduced the Giant to ash.

"You can't kill me-" Thoon managed before he was again turned into ash, this time by being incinerated in an inferno of intense white flame

"I know that now." Ophis said calmly. Too calmly. "Only a _god_ and a demigod working together can. And as a protogenos, a primordial, I am _not_ a god."

"Then you know it is pointless to resist?" Thoon asked in a relieved but still wary voice as Ophis let him fully regenerate.

Thoon was wise to be wary. Ophis may have stopped trying to kill him, but her aura had not reined itself in at all, if anything it had only grown even more violently agitated. She was far from calm.

"Pointless?" Ophis said in a voice so cold that it sent chills down the spines of all who heard it, even, no especially Thoon's. "I think not. After all, there are fates worse, _much worse_ , than death."

"Wha-" Thoon's question was interrupted when without moving an inch, his arms and legs were unexpectedly cut from his body.

As his dismembered torso fell to the ground, he began to laugh. "Hahahaha! Is this all? This won't stop me. I'll just regen-"

"Then why haven't you already?" Ophis observed lightly gesturing to the stumps that had once been his limbs, even as she set his detached limbs alight.

Thoon just looked between the stumps and Ophis in confusion.

"Can't figure it out?" Ophis asked even as she gave him a terrifying smile. "Let me explain then. You see, I'm the primordial of time and, in this case more importantly, _space_. So it's completely trivial for me to manipulate space as I see fit."

Horrified understanding grew in the Giant's eyes. "The space around my limbs, you've-"

"Warped them into nothingness? Yup." Ophis said cheerfully. "You can't regenerate when there's no space to do so, can you? Or more precisely, you can, but anything that does get regenerated just gets crushed the moment it is repaired."

"You can't keep this up forever!" Thoon shouted defiantly.

"Oh but I can." Ophis corrected, even as she crossed her arms and smiled down at her nephew. "And this is not all that I can do either. Here, let me show you another neat trick."

At that, hundreds of vaguely needle shaped shimmers appeared in the air above Thoon's body. Ophis looked up from staring into her victim's terrified eyes for a moment to inspect her handiwork for a moment, before nodding and sending her constructs slamming into his body.

The Giant's agonized scream echoed across the whole city.

"Painful isn't it? It should be. After all, I've pierced every one of your remaining nerves with a sliver of distorted space. Just right so that they trigger the pain response but not enough to kill the nerve." Ophis explained, a smile on her face even as she was forced to talk over Thoon's tormented cries. "It wasn't an easy trick to learn. But Big Brother Hades is a good teacher."

For a moment, Ophis just leaned back and luxuriated in seeing her enemy suffer.

But all good things must come to an end and after a few minutes, Thoon finally destroyed his vocal cords screaming at the top of his lungs.

Ophis pouted at this and tilting her head to the side slightly and resting a finger on her cheek pondered what new torture to give _the fool who had dared hurt her Big Brother_.

"Mercy!" Thoon cried out as his healing allowed him to speak once more and before the pain got to be too much for him and he began screaming once more.

"Mercy? Why ever should I offer you that?" Ophis said her face the picture of innocent confusion, even as her eyes glinted with sinister malice.

The daughter of Kronos enjoyed the music that was her victim's agony a moment longer before she decided it was time to move onto the next act.

With a snap of her fingers, Ophis commanded the space that Thoon's ravaged body occupied to begin to fold in on itself. One by one cube shaped sections of the space collapsed onto each other, shrinking with each fold until the Giant was reduced to nothing more than a bloody mess trapped within a cube of distorted space no bigger than a Rubik's Cube.

"Well, now you can easily fit into my pocket. I can carry you around and have fun with you whenever I'm bored. Isn't that fun, eh Thoon?"

Having taken a few steps back to get a better view, Ophis smiled as she began skipping the short distance to pick up her prize.

She was just reaching down to do so when the ground below the cube suddenly opened up and it fell into the embrace of the earth. It had happened so suddenly that Ophis could not react quickly enough, in fact by the time she'd even thought to do so the fissure had already sealed itself.

For a moment, Ophis stood there stuck in the pose of reaching down to pick something off the ground. All the while she glared at the earth.

Slowly she straightened herself.

"If this is what you want, sister, than war it is." Time and Space Embodied declared, not once lifting her terrible, furious gaze from the earth.

* * *

**And this chapter is done and with it this fic as well, since this should be the last chapter. Though since this is a snippet collection for the events in the Ophisverse between the Second Titanomachy and Second Gigantomachy, I might just add a few snippets here in the future if I come up with anything. But no promises.**

**And now for this chapter. Well, I guess the only thing worth discussing that's not overtly covered in the chapter itself is why Ophis went full-on torturer on Thoon at the end there. The answer is obvious: He hurt Nico. The not obvious bits of context why this was such a big deal? Well… It has to do with the fact that Ophis has been obsessing over the vision of what she'll do if Nico dies. So she's particularly sensitive of anything happening to him at the moment.**

**As for why she's capable of being such a monster? Simple. She's a daughter of Kronos, and they all have the potential for this kinda thing, and she spends a lot of time with Hades who has torturing the damned as a major part of his job description. Simple osmosis from spending so much time with her brother has affected her.**

**Lastly, as I said in the last chapter, this chapter is a teaser for the 'proper' sequel to The Search for Home. So with this published, expect to see that story released next Friday or Saturday(GMT +8).**

**Hmm… I guess that's all I want to talk about here. I hope to see you in the next story in the Ophisverse.**

**Please review.**

**Bye for now.**


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